Written Answers Tuesday 26 September 2006

Scottish Executive

Community Councils

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23451 by Mr Tom McCabe on 6 March 2006, when it will complete its review of the community council system.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23451 by Mr Tom McCabe on 6 March 2006, when it will report on its review of the community council system.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23451 by Mr Tom McCabe on 6 March 2006, when it expects to have an action plan in place to implement its review of the community council system.

Mr Tom McCabe: We have now completed the evaluation of the 356 responses to the Consultation Paper "What can we do to help community councils fulfil their role" and this concludes our review of community councils. I plan to publish the outcomes of the evaluation together with my recommendations on the way forward by November 2006.

Council Tax

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform’s statement that "The average increase in council tax in Scotland has been lower than anywhere else in the United Kingdom - much lower than south of the border" ( Official Report c. 27561), what monies have come to Scotland, under the HM Treasury statement of funding arrangements, to balance any change in the cost of council tax benefit subsidy.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has received £92 million under the HM Treasury statement of funding policy arrangements, to balance any change in the cost of council tax benefit subsidy.

Dentistry

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made to enable clinical dental technicians to have an opportunity to acquire the required qualification in the United Kingdom (UK) and whether the satellite course in the has been made available to such technicians in Scotland from August 2006, as indicated by the Regulatory Unit of the Executive’s Health Department in a letter to the Association for the Promotion of Denturism dated 4 July 2006.

Lewis Macdonald: Work is continuing with NHS Education for Scotland on establishing a course to start as early as possible in 2007. This is to enable dental technicians to gain the clinical skills they need to register with the General Dental Council in order to practise as clinical dental technicians. The course will require to be approved by the General Dental Council, and its viability will have to be demonstrated for the Scottish education sector. Interest to date is low.

  The Scottish satellite was to be of the course being run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England for those with a qualification from the George Brown University in Canada. However, only a single candidate has been identified in Scotland, and discussions are currently being held with him with a view to agreeing the best way of ensuring that individual can pursue the course.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a policy of supporting the installation of fingerprint systems in schools and, if so, what the objective is of this policy.

Peter Peacock: Such decisions are matters for individual education authorities and schools.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides funding for the installation of fingerprint systems in schools and, if so, how much has been spent on this in the last three financial years.

Peter Peacock: The Executive does not provide funding specifically for the installation of such systems.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that parental consent should be required before schools take the fingerprints of pupils.

Peter Peacock: The Executive believes that parental consent is an essential pre-requisite.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence it has had with (a) schools and (b) local authorities regarding the use of fingerprint systems in schools.

Peter Peacock: The Executive has had no such direct correspondence.

Education

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence it has had with the (a) UK Government and (b) UK Information Commissioner regarding the use of fingerprint systems in schools.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government and the UK Information Commissioner on a range of issues, including the use of fingerprint systems in schools.

Freedom of Information

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions, and in respect of which specific requests, its press office has been given sight of information prior to that information being released in response to a freedom of information request.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information asked for is not held. Guidance is provided to Scottish Executive staff on the appropriate handling of requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this is available on the Scottish Executive website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/access/internalguide.

General Practitioners

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people from new EU member states have registered with a GP in the Scottish Borders in each month since January 2004.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not available centrally.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS boards to ensure that nursing staff administer regular medication to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease whilst in hospital with other conditions.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS boards are expected to have admission procedures in place which include arrangements for the administration, including, where appropriate, self-administration, of the medicines required by those with Parkinson’s disease.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on ensuring that patients with chronic conditions continue to receive their regular medication whilst in hospital with other conditions.

Lewis Macdonald: It is essential that those in hospital should receive not only the medication needed to treat the cause of admission to hospital, but also the regular medication they need in relation to any other conditions which they may have.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on ensuring that patients with chronic conditions continue to receive their regular medication at the appropriate times during emergency admissions to hospital.

Lewis Macdonald: It is essential that those admitted to hospital in an emergency should receive not only the medication needed to treat the cause of admission to hospital, but also the regular medication they need in relation to all other conditions which they may have.

  When a person is admitted to hospital as an emergency, staff in accident and emergency departments have computerised access, with the person’s agreement, to his or her emergency care summary, should they need to establish the repeat medication required to treat any regular conditions.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fully funded intensive therapy unit (ITU) beds there are, broken down by NHS board and location.

Mr Andy Kerr: Centrally held information on intensive therapy unit (ITU) beds does not specifically identify beds that are fully funded.

  However, table 1 shows information on the average available staffed beds in intensive care units by NHS board for the years ending 31 March 2004-06.

  Table 1, NHS Scotland – Average Available Staffed Beds in Intensive Care Units; Years Ending 31 March 2004 to 2006

  

 
 2004
 2005
 2006P


 Scotland1
 172
 177
 177


 Argyll and Clyde
 8
 8
 9


 Ayrshire and Arran
 14
 11
 9


 Borders
 3
 3
 4


 Dumfries and Galloway
 6
 6
 6


 Fife
 9
 10
 10


 Forth Valley
 6
 7
 7


 Grampian
 18
 18
 18


 Greater Glasgow
 45
 48
 47


 Highland
 6
 6
 7


 Lanarkshire
 15
 15
 14


 Lothian
 32
 31
 33


 Orkney
 -
 -
 -


 Shetland
 -
 -
 -


 Tayside
 10
 10
 10


 Western Isles
 -
 -
 -



  PProvisional.

  Note: 1. Information for Golden Jubilee National Hospital is included in the Scotland total.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average occupancy rates of intensive therapy unit (ITU) beds have been in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Table 1 shows information on the average occupancy rates of intensive care units by NHS board for the years ending 31 March 2004-2006.

  Table 1, NHS Scotland – Average Occupancy Rate in Intensive Care Units; Years Ending 31 March 2004 to 2006

  

 
 2004
 2005
 2006P


 Scotland1
 75.6%
 77.4%
 76.6%


 Argyll and Clyde
 95.1%
 94.7%
 93.7%


 Ayrshire and Arran
 66.5%
 75.9%
 71.3%


 Borders
 94.1%
 95.9%
 96.0%


 Dumfries and Galloway
 58.4%
 62.4%
 61.6%


 Fife
 72.7%
 69.5%
 66.8%


 Forth Valley
 93.8%
 93.7%
 80.5%


 Grampian
 74.8%
 75.6%
 79.2%


 Greater Glasgow
 74.0%
 71.5%
 72.0%


 Highland
 74.4%
 76.2%
 77.5%


 Lanarkshire
 78.4%
 78.6%
 77.5%


 Lothian
 77.1%
 78.3%
 81.0%


 Orkney
 -
 -
 -


 Shetland
 -
 -
 -


 Tayside
 69.9%
 84.5%
 80.0%


 Western Isles
 -
 -
 -



  PProvisional.

  Note: 1. Information for Golden Jubilee National Hospital is included in the Scotland total.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many days all intensive therapy unit (ITU) beds have been occupied in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not held centrally. It is not possible to identify specific days that intensive therapy beds are occupied from aggregated data returns.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many intensive therapy unity (ITU) beds there are per head of population, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Table 1 shows information on the average available staffed beds in intensive care units per 1,000 population by NHS board for the year ending 31 March 2006.

  It should be noted that these rates are not strictly comparable. They do not take account of cross boundary flows between NHS boards. Patients are not restricted to using NHS services within their own NHS board area.

  Table 1, NHS Scotland – Average Available Staffed Beds in Intensive Care Units per 1,000 Population; Year Ending 31 March 2006P

  

 Scotland1
 3.5


 Argyll and Clyde
 2.2


 Ayrshire and Arran
 2.5


 Borders
 3.6


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4.0


 Fife
 2.8


 Forth Valley
 2.5


 Grampian
 3.4


 Greater Glasgow
 5.4


 Highland
 3.3


 Lanarkshire
 2.5


 Lothian
 4.2


 Orkney
 -


 Shetland
 -


 Tayside
 2.6


 Western Isles
 -



  PProvisional.

  Note: 1. Information for Golden Jubilee National Hospital is included in the Scotland total.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what total value of fines was imposed for (a) road traffic and (b) non-road traffic offences in (i) Glasgow District Court and (ii) Glasgow Sheriff Court between 1 April 2005 and 31 Mar 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: The total values of financial penalties imposed in Glasgow Sheriff Court between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 are –

  £214,403.00 for road traffic offences and

  £1,223,778.14 for non- road traffic offences.

  This information is not available for District Courts.

  The total value of the financial penalties imposed in any one year is liable to be different from the total amount paid or remitted. This is because some of the fines imposed in any one year will be payable over a period which extends beyond that year, and because of fines defaulters.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what total value of fines was paid for (a) road traffic and (b) non-road traffic offences in (i) Glasgow District Court and (ii) Glasgow Sheriff Court between 1 April 2005 and 31 Mar 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: The total values of financial penalties paid in Glasgow Sheriff Court between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 are:

  £191,542.88 for road traffic offences and

  £749,927.71 for non- road traffic offences.

  This information is not available for fines paid in District Courts for 2005-06. The information that is available does not distinguish between road traffic and non-road traffic fines.

  The total value of the financial penalties imposed in any one year is liable to be different from the total amount paid or remitted. This is because some of the fines imposed in any one year will be payable over a period which extends beyond that year, and because of fines defaulters.

Justice

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S2W-27685 by Mr Tom McCabe on 7 September 2006, why no budget was set for the criminal history system replacement project, given that it followed the Prince methodology.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S2W-27685 by Mr Tom McCabe on 7 September 2006, who made the decision that the criminal history system replacement project could proceed beyond the planning stage without a budget being set.

Cathy Jamieson: At that time the Criminal History System Replacement Project Board was responsible for the management of the Criminal History Replacement Project under the oversight of the Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS) Programme Board.

Justice

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S2W-27685 by Mr Tom McCabe on 7 September 2006, what additional controls and reporting mechanisms were put in place to compensate for the lack of a designated budget against which to monitor project spending in respect of the criminal history system replacement project.

Cathy Jamieson: When the Scottish Executive became aware that the replacement system would not be delivered by March 2004 a number of steps were taken to improve management of the project.

  Firstly, Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS) was brought within the governance arrangements that were put in place by the establishment of the Common Police Services (CPS) Programme Board in April 2004. This was followed by the appointment to Real Time Engineering Ltd to assess the state of the project. Their report in April 2005, highlighted the poor state of the project management and the unreliability of financial information on the project and made proposals about the steps that would need to be taken to deliver the replacement system.

  In April 2005, a senior civil servant was appointed as the interim director of SPIS. In May 2005 more robust reporting arrangements about the progress of the project and its financial management were put in place. In addition, regular reports were provided to Justice Department officials and the CPS Programme Board.

  In October 2005, the CPS Programme Board was satisfied with the progress made during the previous five months and endorsed the continuation of the CHS project. A four stage approach was adopted by SPIS, which meant that delivery would be on a slightly longer timescale but with a more robust approach to project management and delivery of the various stages of the project.

  The project is on track to meet the revised delivery date from SPIS to the Scottish Criminal Record Office which is scheduled for 22 December 2006. Thereafter there will be a period of user acceptance testing with the intention that the new system will in use by June 2007.

Justice

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 134,459 individuals with a charge proved in 2004-05 in Scottish courts had received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five or (f) six or more previous custodial sentences.

Cathy Jamieson: Analysis of the conviction history of individual offenders is only possible for convictions where the main offence involved was categorised as a crime in the Scottish Executive Justice Department’s classification of crimes and offences or as simple assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated harassment or conduct, a miscellaneous firearms offence or a social security offence. A total of 49,260 individual offenders were convicted on at least one occasion in 2004-05 for these crimes and offences, accounting for 75,158 of the total of 134,459 convictions recorded. The available information on the number of previous custodial sentences for these offenders is given in the following table.

  Individual Offenders with a Charge Proved in 2004-051 for a Crime or Relevant Offence2 by Number of Previous Custodial Sentences in 1989 to 2004-05

  

Number of Previous Custodial Sentences in 1989 to 2004-052
 Number of Offenders


 None
 37,037


 1
 3,151


 2
 1,639


 3
 1,194


 4
 895


 5
 706


 6 or more
 4,638


 All offenders
 49,260



  Notes:

  1. Last sentencing occasion in 2004-05.

  2. Includes convictions for crimes or common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct or harassment, firearms offences or social security offences. Excludes convictions outwith Scotland and convictions for minor miscellaneous offences and motor vehicle offences.

Justice

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 13,342 individuals sent to prison in 2004-05 had received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five or (f) six or more previous custodial sentences.

Cathy Jamieson: Analysis of the conviction history of individual offenders is only possible for convictions where the main offence involved was categorised as a crime in the Scottish Executive Justice Department’s classification of crimes and offences or as simple assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated harassment or conduct, a miscellaneous firearms offence or a social security offence. A total of 6,029 individual offenders had a custodial sentence imposed on at least one occasion in 2004-05 for these crimes and offences, accounting for 11,002 of the total of 13,342 custodial convictions recorded. The available information on the number of previous custodial sentences for these offenders is given in the following table.

  Individual Offenders with a Sentence of Imprisonment Imposed in 2004-051 for a Crime or Relevant Offence2 by Number of Previous Custodial Sentences in 1989 to 2004-05

  

 Number of Previous Custodial Sentences in 1989 to 2004-052
 Number of Offenders


 None
 1,466


 1
 644


 2
 439


 3
 369


 4
 330


 5
 268


 6 or more
 2,513


 All offenders
 6,029



  Notes:

  1. Last sentencing occasion in 2004-05.

  2. Includes convictions for crimes or common assault, breach of the peace, racially aggravated conduct or harassment, firearms offences or social security offences. Excludes convictions outwith Scotland and convictions for minor miscellaneous offences and motor vehicle offences.

NHS Boards

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive in which publications it advertised the posts of non-executive members in each of the NHS boards that are currently recruiting for such posts.

Mr Andy Kerr: These public appointments were advertised in the national press, The Scotsman , The Herald , The Press and Journal and The Courier . Following discussions with the respective NHS board chairs these non-executive opportunities were also advertised in a number of local papers:

  

 NHS Board
 Local Publications


 Fife NHS Board
 Dunfermline Press and the Fife Free Press Group


 Forth Valley NHS Board
 Falkirk R4 Package; Stirling Observer; Stirling News/Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser and Alloa and Hillfoots (Clackmannan) Wee County News


 Grampian NHS Board
 No advertising by the Health Department Public Appointments Unit – arrangements to be taken forward by the NHS board.


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board 
 Dumbarton Reporter, Helensburgh Advertiser, Clydebank Post; The Lennox (Dumbarton) and Clyde Weekly News


 Highland NHS Board
 No advertising by the Health Department Public Appointments Unit – arrangements to be taken forward by the NHS board.

Non-Domestic Rates

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been raised in business rates from the premises of firms in the Scottish Borders with a rateable value of below £8,000 in each year since 1999.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been raised in business rates from the premises of firms in the Scottish Borders with a rateable value of between £7,999 and £15,000 in each year since 1999.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been raised in business rates from the premises of firms in East Lothian with a rateable value of below £8,000 in each year since 1999.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been raised in business rates from the premises of firms in East Lothian with a rateable value of between £7,999 and £15,000 in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally.

Police

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many armed police raids have taken place in each police force area in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table. Information on armed police raids is not collected centrally. Deployment of firearms officers is an operational matter for the relevant chief constable.

  Operations Against Person Known or Believed to be Armed

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central Scotland
 10
 8
 1
 6
 3
 1
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 6
 3
 15
 11
 6
 4
 4


 Fife
 5
 5
 6
 8
 13
 5
 9


 Grampian
 17
 11
 11
 6
 6
 6
 1


 Lothian and Borders
 66
 94
 96
 165
 197
 181
 150


 Northern
 7
 10
 5
 0
 1
 4
 3


 Strathclyde
 17
 14
 24
 103
 131
 117
 203


 Tayside
 13
 5
 5
 1
 1
 3
 1



  Source: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Private Finance Initiatives

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects to spend under PFI/PPP schemes in each of the next 30 years, broken down by project.

Mr Tom McCabe: The estimated annual expenditure to service the Scottish Executive’s PPP roads projects is shown in the following table:

  Estimated Annual Unitary Charge (£ Million)

  

 Year
 M6
 M77/GSO*


 2006-07
 23.3
 11.8


 2007-08
 28.1
 12.1


 2008-09
 27.1
 12.4


 2009-10
 26.8
 12.7


 2010-11
 27.7
 13.1


 2011-12
 27.9
 13.6


 2012-13
 28.8
 14.6


 2013-14
 28.9
 14.5


 2014-15
 35.2
 14.8


 2015-16
 45.7
 16.2


 2016-17
 45.6
 15.6


 2017-18
 48.2
 15.9


 2018-19
 47.8
 16.4


 2019-20
 40.4
 16.9


 2020-21
 35.9
 18.0


 2021-22
 34.9
 17.6


 2022-23
 16.0
 18.9


 2023-24
 7.6
 19.3


 2024-25
 9.4
 20.2


 2025-26
 9.2
 20.8


 2026-27
 12.0
 20.7


 2027-28
 4.6
 21.5


 2028-29
 
 20.3


 2029-30
 
 20.5


 2030-31
 
 21.3


 2031-32
 
 19.8


 2032-33
 
 21.5


 2033-34
 
 21.4


 2034-35
 
 24.9


 2035-36
 
 1.6



  Note: *The M77/GSO is a joint project between the Scottish Executive, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire Councils. The unitary charge shown in the table reflects the total unitary charge for the project and not just the Executive’s share.

  Information on the unitary charge for the Scottish Executive’s other PPP project, Kilmarnock Prison, is available in the Scottish Prison Service Annual Reports which can be found at:

  http://www.sps.gov.uk/Default.asp?menuid=230.

Procurement

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28112 by Mr Tom McCabe on 13 September 2006, how the absence of centrally held procurement cost data can be reconciled with the Executive’s Efficient Government plans to make savings from procurement.

Mr Tom McCabe: The McClelland Report makes a number of recommendations which are designed to deliver improvements in procurement practice which will in turn ensure that vfm savings are secured. Delivery of planned Efficient Government savings is not considered to be dependent on establishing comprehensive central records of procurement expenditure by all public bodies. For example, the Report recommends focussing, initially at least, on a small number of goods and services which are common requirements across different organisations.

Procurement

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-28112 by Mr Tom McCabe on 13 September 2006, how the absence of centrally held procurement cost data impacts on the Executive’s ability to implement the McClelland Report on procurement.

Mr Tom McCabe: The report highlighted the lack of consistent data as a concern. In implementing the report’s recommendations the Executive intends to undertake additional work on identifying procurement expenditure across the public sector. It should be noted, however, that this work will focus initially on larger organisations with higher levels of procurement spending and that comprehensive central data is not expected to be available for some time.

Water Charges

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will launch a consultation on revised charges for water services to non-household customers.

Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the question S2W-26175, answered on 31 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .